Motivation – Cpl. Nick Beberniss

The Commandant of the Marine Corps came to visit the injured Marines who are currently patients at Naval Medical Center San Diego on Sept. 15.

A brief visit was not the only event on his schedule as he arrived at NMCSD. Gen. Michael Hagee was there to reenlist Cpl. Nick Beberniss, the Marine Corpsâ€™ first Permanent Limited Duty Marine.

During a tour in Baghdad, Iraq, Beberniss, a Westminster, Co. native, served as a mortar man with 2nd Marines, 7th division. As he was setting up a vehicle check point, he was struck with an enemy double-stack anti-tank mine on July 21, 2004, which was supposed to have left him paralyzed.

â€œThe doctors told me I would never walk again. I even thought I would never walk again,â€ said Beberniss.

With four broken vertebrae, Beberniss laid in a hospital bed with a collapsed spine and broken dreams. With the thought of never walking again, the Marine believed his time with the Marine Corps was over.